


Jaws

by SatsuTrash



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: BDSM, Dom/sub, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Light Angst, Porn with build up, Seduction to the Dark Side, Sex, Sith Sex (Star Wars), Some Plot, Unhealthy Relationships, Vaginal Sex, reader is scared but aroused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:02:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29534472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatsuTrash/pseuds/SatsuTrash
Summary: ExpectA short build up (cos I'm impatient)Smutt (with appropriate warnings at each chapter)Sex, BDSM and power dynamics. Maybe worship kink, who knows?This is my first posted fanfiction, so please be kind! I only decided to publish this because there just aren't enough MaulxReader works and there needs to be HUNDREEEDS (Yes, I love the man). I hope you guys enjoy, and get some smutty amusement from this!Also apologies if I'm a little slow with the chapters, and the general messiness of my writing! I'm open to comments/criticism!An escaped student of the Jedi Temple of Coruscant, you've spent years living in a crime ridden in between. No longer a Padawan, but no closer to being a fully fledged Force User, you've scraped together a living between chasing your dreams of knowledge to no avail.Until one day you get a vital piece of information. Finally, a link to someone who might give you the answers you seek, the answers the Jedi Temple refused to give you.For what could really be so bad about knowledge? Even of the Dark Side. What could be so dangerous in seeking out understanding, even if it might bring you face to face with your own Darkness
Relationships: Darth Maul/Reader
Comments: 14
Kudos: 27





	1. Reader setup

“Show me those pretty white jaws  
Show me where the delicate stops  
Show me what you've lost  
And why you're always taking it slow  
Show me what wounds you've got and show me love”

You had been trained by the Jedi, on the Temple of Coruscant. Dedicated as a child, but poisoned by your own keen curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Or perhaps it had just been cynicism and your never ending pull towards your passions, but the former helped you sleep better at night.  
They always withheld what they didn’t want you to know, always steering you down a path that you hadn’t chosen for yourself. It had all started with questions, so many questions that they left unanswered. Then, flouting rules. Seeking out what they called forbidden knowledge from the dark side, but why should any knowledge be forbidden?  
Even the choice of Master had been orchestrated to forge you into what they wanted, a soldier that didn’t question orders. She had been wise, and dedicated to the cause but you always found her answers came up woefully short. 

But, that’s an unfair summary of what caused your distrust and eventual escape from the Jedi order. So many moments, large and small, had led to your departure and hiding. 

And now, who were you? A errant vagabond who had fallen into crime in the underbelly of Coruscant to get you by. You lived at night, sneaking about the streets, masking yourself from discovery, living off scraps of knowledge you picked up on travels off the planet and informants from the criminal underworld.  
It had all started with one syndicate, small but effective. You remembered the day clearly, when a young female Twi'lek had led you to the back rooms of a bar, past the dancers and drunken revellers. There you’d met a man who promised he had the knowledge you sought, and credits along the way. After all, you needed to feed yourself, didn’t you? You needed transport, funds for your own ship eventually. So why not work for him, while he drip fed you tidbits and information. 

This went on for years, and you’d been surprised at how much knowledge of the dark side some of his contacts had. But looking back, you’d made more progress in credits than you had with your own training. And, by the maker, you’d managed to make some friends. You’d started to enjoy some aspects of life, between the criminal jobs and your hunt for power. And funnily enough, it had been all thanks to the Twilek you had come to love as your dearest friend, and the Crime Lord who had first brought you in.


	2. Vero's place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick set up to introduce you to the world I'm trying to fit this Maul Romance/Porn into! 
> 
> I hope this setup gives you an accurate enough depiction to feel like you're in the Star Wars universe, and you enjoy the original character's I've slid in there!  
> No Maul appearance yet, but you won't have to wait long! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Koyi’Feen marched beside you through the back rooms of the “establishment”, the raucous of the front rooms barely muffled beyond the thin walls that separated the girls from the patrons. Dancers and performers rushed past in the barely large enough space, glittering with beads and crystals in barely there outfits.  
“So what I’m hearing is, you’ll be around for a little while. No mysterious journeys, no jumping on the next available ship on your never ending quest for… Well whatever it is?” The giddiness in her voice was barely concealed behind her usually professional manner, and you could even see a smile threatening at the edge of her lips from the corner of her eye.  
  
You sighed, your own smile daring to break through the stony exterior you’d part moulded yourself, part had forced onto you at the Jedi academy. Even there, you’d learned quickly that a strong poker face was an asset one couldn’t get by without. “I suppose so. Yes.”  
You’d just come from a meeting with the owner of the “establishment”. A human male, a shady individual you knew as well as anyone could say they knew a crime lord. Over the years, you’d learned to read his expressions, when he was holding information back, when he was exaggerating his latest informant’s knowledge, and when he wanted something from you. But with that knowledge, with your keen ability to skim over minds, you knew better than to delve deeper than he wanted. Even today, when you’d wanted nothing more than to pry more information from his unwilling mind.  
  
The Twi’lek beside you, at once deadly as a serpent and as elegant as a flower, was the main point of contact between the boss and any visitors or ‘business prospects’. She was the key to unlocking his time, and should she find you wanting you’d be tossed out on your ass quicker than you could say hyperspeed. Despite the appearance of a pretty dancer, she was a cold and calculating associate to one of the most dangerous men in the lower levels of Coruscant. Oh, but she was so much more than that. A part time murderer, a confident, and most importantly to you she was the only true friend you’d known.  
  
“Then you’ll have to give me some of your precious time” there was a pause as you both turned a corner, and you realised you weren’t being taken to the exit.  
“Koy, I have time for you, but now-”  
“Is the perfect time to indulge me”  
You felt her hand gently brush against your shoulder, before encouraging you to continue walking. All you could do was sigh, you knew you’d be better giving her what she wanted, and followed along silently.  
“How was your meeting?”  
Your mind trailed over the details of your brief conversation with him. With the boss, Vero. You’d done more than enough dirty deeds for the man, spilt blood in his name to keep his opponents in line, and you were certain he had suspicions regarding your abilities. But if he did, he didn’t make it evident, and no one else seemed to be any the wiser. You supposed he found it in his best interested to keep the fact that you were a Force user quiet. Better for business.  
“Fine”  
  
On this occasion, he’d given you something worthwhile. But it had left you with a bitter taste in your mouth, with familiar fear and anger running through your veins.  
Koy offered a breathy sigh, before opening a door and elegantly motioning for you to enter. You took her in for a brief moment, noting just how deliberate each motion she made was. It always astounded you, as if she was moving art. It was enough to centre you back onto the present, pushing away the ever threatening rage that you knew led only one way.  
But was that way really all that bad?  
  
“It must be exhausting” you stood in the doorway, blocking the way to her own dressing room.  
“Oh, being friends with you? Yes. Yes it is, in fact you owe me for all of these frown lines-”  
“No. It must be exhausting. Being so absolutely, incredibly perfect”  
Finally that smile did crack the facade, and you both indulged in the quietest of laughs before you swooped into her room.  
Perhaps the only person who knew the barest thread of your struggles, despite never fully confiding in her, you felt a particular warmth towards Koy. An affection that the Jedi would have deemed inappropriate. Even that thought made your blood boil and simmer briefly.  
She closed the door carefully behind herself once you were settled on a chair in the corner, leaving her dressing table and chaise open for her.  
The room was immaculately messy, like the nest of a beautiful bird overly attracted to anything that shone or lustered. But you knew better. She collected nothing. The room was filled with gifts from hopefuls, with gems and precious cloths from every side of the Galaxy. She was a hidden gem in Vero’s bar, and as such she had many affluent patrons.  
  
“So, the meeting”  
“I told you, it was fine” You retorted sharply, immediately guilt ripping through you at your harsh tone.  
She shook her head dramatically, the gems on her lavender skin catching in the dim light of the room. You were thankful that she never took your irritation or anger personally, but that only made your guilt deepen. “You know no one else will hear you. Spill.”  
You adjusted yourself awkwardly on the chair, grimacing and looking away. Most meetings ended in leads to cults of the dark side, academic fanatics or the odd ancient artifact that always seemed to have been poached before you’d even managed to find the right location. But this time… This time it had been something more. Something dangerous.  
  
“I don’t know.” you began. A delicate frown etched Koy’s features, her gaze settled intently on you as you continued to look away. You pulled the dark cloak about your shoulders closer, before leaning your elbows on your knees. “Information”  
“As always” she responded quickly, curious.  
“But…”  
You chanced a glance at her, the flash or anger and fear in your eyes warranting her worry. Her hand paused as it reached to unclasp her necklace, dropping back down into her lap.  
“[Y/N]... You don’t have to tell me, I’m sorry.”  
“No, no it’s fine. I-... I just have a lot to think about right now”  
A silence settled in the room, as you began to wring your hands nervously. What were you supposed to make of the new information you’d been given? Of Vero’s reasons, of his entire demeanor?  
You traced over the brief moment in time once again, imagining his face as he leaned back on his throne of dirty money, room devoid of his usual cronies. You’d known then that whatever he needed, whatever he had to share had been different.

* * *

_“There is another like you, on Coruscant. Not at the temple”_   
_You’d frozen as he’d said that, searching his face for more, letting the quiet stretch out, hoping that answers would drop into it. So he had known, and did know. He knew where you’d come from, but he’d kept it a secret all these years._   
_“The LiMerge building. That’s all I can give you, and that’s all I want to know”_   
_His dark cropped hair was immaculate as always, nothing was amiss in his appearance. Clothing dark, finely cut and sharp, but his eyes held a weight you hadn’t seen before. He’d tortured, murdered unscrupulously. Put you in situations that made you question your own morals, and stocked the growing embers of hatred in your heart. What could possibly make him look so… So afraid?_   
_“Vero” you’d chanced, standing behind the chair reserved for his clients during his meetings. Your knuckles had turned white, gripping on to the cold metal without realising. “I-... I don’t understand”_   
_“You do. You understand enough. Don’t test me” He had frowned at this, adjusting himself as he sat as if uncomfortable. He avoided your gaze, starting to sort trinkets upon the wide metallic desk before him. “You’ve served me well all these years, isn’t it time I gave back?”_   
_The short bark of laughter that left your lips was scathing. You sniffed, suddenly realising that you’d been trying to choke the back of the chair to death. “Give back. What’s in it for you?”  
_   
_Oh and there was the gaze you knew. It turned to you, black in its intentions and enough to somehow fill you with fear. He knew your power could overcome him, knew that in other circumstances you would be an opponent he could not beat but his pride wouldn’t allow him to back down._   
_After all, wasn’t that all that stood between him and usurpation?_   
_“Go. I’ve given you what you seek, and you dare ask for more? After everything I’ve done for you?”_   
_You didn’t know what to say. Of course, he was a viscous criminal that had warranted your wrath, and found it, on more than one occasion, but… But he’d been the one in the darkest of nights that you’d stumbled upon. He’d been the one who had given you the credits you needed to survive, to forge this new life no matter how little there was of it. And now he seemed to actually be giving you something back with no expectations in return._   
_Eventually you nodded, “Of course Vero. I apologise.” You turned to leave, only pausing as the door before you slid open at your approach. “Thank you”_

* * *

  
You shook your head, bringing yourself back to the moment. “Vero, He…” you cleared your throat, eyes darting about the floor as if looking for the right way to place the words you wanted to say. “He said that after everything I’d done for him, that he owed me” You shrugged, unwilling to divulge more, to tangle your friend into this mess any further than need be.  
  
Koy stood, taking delicate steps towards you. It seemed you weren’t the only one struggling for words as she searched your downturned face. “Well…” she began, shifting her weight from one hip to the next fluidly. “Even better reason for you to celebrate. Vero doesn’t give without receiving often.” she offered a brief smile, before going to her knees in front of you, clasping your kneading hands in hers and stilling them. “But it does happen”  
  
You met her smiling gaze, her large eyes sparkling with an expression you barely recognised. Almost loss, almost sorrow laced with hope but… Not quite.  
“And… Maybe this is what you’ve been searching for all this time. Whatever it is, maybe you’ll find it now” She squeezed your hands, and you couldn’t help but feel some of that sad hope within the turmoil of your feelings.  
Koy was the only person who had anything close to an inkling about who you truly were, aside from Vero. You’d carefully kept as much of yourself secret from her as you could, terrified of letting her get hurt, but she had a way of noticing things, of seeing through barriers and lies and finding the truth.  
  
“But I expect to see you back here in 2 weeks, understand? We’re going out”  
“Out!?” you retorted, leaning away from her in disdain and surprised. She laughed, a beautiful, lyrical sound that was more magical than any song. “Yes, out”  
“Oh no no no-”  
Her gentle hands retracted from yours, offering you a swift smack on the back of your hand “Ach- Ow!” You exclaimed, while she pouted dramatically, before laughing once more. “In all the years we’ve been friends, and all of the things I’ve done for you-”  
“Oh here we go again”  
“I -THINK-” she grabbed the conversation back sharply from you with a stern look “I think you owe me one night. How long has it been? How many weeks? Months!?”  
You mumbled something about embarrassing yourself, about having been out more than enough, before realising you couldn’t actually count the number of rotations it had been since you’d had an evening of fun with your friend.  
“Oh just don’t drink as much, youngling, and you’ll leave with your dignity in tact”  
You offered no words, and no resistance beside a huff of indignation, and you could see from the gleam in her eye that she recognised her victory. She stood and turned back to her dressing table, peering at her perfect appearance to continue to remove her various adornments.  
“I’ll comm you on the day, I want you here early. I’m dressing you”  
“Oh now come on, Koy, that’s too m-”  
“I won’t hear another word out of you, it’s been decided.”  
“You know you’re as bossy as Vero sometimes”  
  
She turned slowly to you, mock insult spreading across her pretty features as she dropped her jeweled necklace to her table with a heavy thud, as if it was worth noting. “You insult me, dear friend. I’m bossier”  
You both laughed, you with your head still firmly within your cowl, posture bent over in the chair, and her with an ease at which you envied. The evening wore away until she was ready to return home, and you escorted her, as you did every night you came to visit. Her protection, and her company.  
However that night, as you left her at her door with a tight embrace and warm farewells, you weren’t left with the same warm comfort you always felt, a comfort that usually staved away the torment and anger that you’d been feeding in your heart since you’d left the temple.

You knew now that there was a vagabond Force User lurking, and you knew where they were. You peered into the dark streets of Coruscant's underbelly. Darkness would begin to lift in a few short hours, giving way to another morning for you to hide away from.  
You'd known that pressing Vero further would have been a mistake, but you wish you knew more. A Force User, but in what camp? They weren't another errant escapee from the temple, but did that mean they were a Sith? Or something altogether... Different?

You set off, letting your feet guide you through the streets you’d come to know so well, not wanting to retreat back home yet, to hide in your shadowed rooms where you mulled over your decisions, your path, your years of confusion and pain. You set your head down, pulled your cowl up to conceal your face and pulled your cloak about your form tighter.  
Another sleepless day lay before you, and there wasn’t much you could do about it.


	3. Chapter 3: Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One step closer to a fully fledged meeting with our fav <3  
> Not much to say here, I tried to add a little to the 'fallen Jedi' side of the story for reader, and I also wanted to make Maul fearsome from the start.  
> I hope I achieved that latter part!! I'll be tumbling quickly into a first true meeting, since I'm so impatient
> 
> (also sorry it's a little rough! I struggle to edit properly without pen and paper but I don't have a printer )': weep!)

You wandered until the threat of sunlight had started to make its presence known, even deep down at the bottom of Coruscant's flawed ecosystem. Your feet ached from pounding the pavement for hours, but the ache felt good. Felt better than wrestling with your own emotions, and your unwanted memories and doubts. You’d decided to turn and make your way home, deciding that you’d tortured your body and mind enough for one evening.  
  
You’d spent hours roving over the tender places in your mind. Your decisions, your… departure from the only family you’d ever had. What your life had begun to form ever since you’d abandoned the temple.   
Ever since leaving the order, you’d blindly hunted after that which had been forbidden from you. Oh not just the knowledge, no. The experiences.  
  
Koy had quickly taken you under her wing. Something had endeared her to you, you had no idea what but by the stars you were grateful for it. Maybe it was the innocence hidden behind the hard sheen in your eyes, or the way you seemed like a newly fledged lamb despite your strength and physical prowess. She had known that you needed help, and she had given it to you without a second thought.  
  
Your steps in the early hours of the morning, beneath the ebbing twilight, had taken you through memories, not streets. Through those first giddy nights after landing on your feet within Vero’s organisation. Drinks, parties and… Partners. So many of them. So many connections and attachments, easily picked up and tossed aside like the drinks you plowed through to forget. Oh if your Master ever knew. It had all been so exciting, so new.    
You took on the streets with a confidence few could hope to achieve, armed with a power you knew no other civilian had. You were superior, untouchable,  _ unstoppable _ . Those had been days of reckless abandon. Working the odd job for Vero, that had seemed harmless, enough to keep your head above water while you reaped the easy rewards of your crimes.   


But soon, the true violence began. At first you would be sent on jobs just to help. It seemed innocent enough, with your inexperience of the world. If there was someone the boss was after? You’d get the team behind their security. A prized item that Vero just had to have? You could distract guards, or somehow convince them to leave their post. It had all been a slippery slope, and it had taken you far long to realise just how fast you were tumbling down that steep incline.

Now there was blood on your hands. Targets upon targets in exchange for pilots and ships, coordinates Vero assured you would lead to answers, artifacts he swore you’d find if you just got there fast enough. He was almost always half right in that promise, there would be answers but never enough to sate your thirst for knowledge of the Dark Side. You had discovered more about yourself than you had of that forbidden knowledge you so thirsted after, of the missing pieces the Jedi refused to teach.

You shook the idea from your mind, the familiar claws of fear gauging at your heart. It had been clawing and growing steadily through your meanderings, threatening to take over as it had so many times before.   
You’d convinced yourself it was all worth it in the grand scheme of things, hadn't you? Being a Crime Lord’s lapdog within a corrupt system. You’d asked questions about the targets at first, those who would be affected by your theft, your threats and murders, just to try and help you sleep a little better at night. But eventually… Well, you’d just stopped. You realised no reasoning would change the pure fact that you were a killer, and you needed to be for your own survival. It hadn’t taken long to see the world for what it truly was outside of the Temple’s walls, and that deep down you were no beacon of light.  
  
It still stung. Even now with the physical ache in your feet and the cold bite of night threatening to ice your skin through your cloak, you couldn’t push away the pain within you. The pain of your choices, your regret, your hatred for the Jedi order, who had taught you that good was the only way. You could feel your teeth clenching. The naivety of the order had turned you into another one of their hopeful victims. You had believed once that you could change the Galaxy, that you could change things. That one day, alongside the order, you could help bring peace, understanding and order to this corrupt Galaxy.   
  
But that had all been a lie.  
  
You stopped suddenly, thoughts cut short. An odd sensation had come over you as you passed by a nearby alleyway. It was hard to describe, but it hit you at your core suddenly and viceraly.   
The streets were quiet in the slowly lifting darkness, but you somehow knew there was something, or someone, nearby in the slowly waking city. In that darkness.

A gentle frown overcame your features as you hesitated at the mouth of the alley, turning to face the narrow gap in the buildings before you. You took one careful step forward, then another. You peered in, somehow thinking that you would be able to make out whatever it was in the pitch darkness. 

You tried to tell yourself it was just vermin scurrying about the hidden garbage that was undoubtedly there, but a quieter voice within you told you it was not. The quieter voice you had come to trust as your instincts.  
  
_ A noise _ .  
  
You froze, body straightening immediately, hand darting to your hip, hovering above the lightsaber that was no longer there. A brief, fervent glance down to the holster on your belt showed that you had your blaster, reminding yourself of who you were now. Openly carrying a lightsaber would bring you nothing but trouble, but over the years you still couldn’t stop imagining it there. 

What had you heard? Why were you jumping at shadows? Perhaps it was paranoia. Knowing that another like you was scurrying about these depths, maybe even along the same paths as you. 

Moments passed. The streets beyond were gradually gaining foot traffic, and you forced yourself into the mouth of the alley to avoid drawing attention to yourself in the slowly waking ecosystem around you. Instead of the occasional pair of feet, you began to hear new passers by every few minutes silently starting their day in the fading darkness.  
  
_ A whoosh of fabric _ .  
  
The blaster in your belt called to you, and it was in your grasp before you could recognise the command from yourself. Pointing it at shadows, you felt like a scared youngling, but the sense of danger you felt was too real to ignore.   
  
You honed in on the sound, eyes like wide orbs in your paleing complexion. Blood drained from your face, from your fingertips, leaving your extremities cold with dread.   
With great effort, you pushed in further, until gentle shade cast over your hood and cloak. But still you could make out nothing. The knowledge that you now shared darkness with this presence almost made you tremble, but you refused to let your fear show.   
Down here, down in the basement of this world, the light didn’t quite reach in some places. That thought in itself was enough to twist your insides with dread some days.

Somehow your hands were steady as they gripped tight to your only lifeline. You took a step towards the darkness and finally  _ felt it _ .  _ The presence _ . It was… Oh stars it was so  _ cold _ .  
  
_ “Run”  _ Your mind begged softly, whispering to you to turn and leave as quickly as you could. Instead, you took another step forward.   
  
“I advise you to reveal yourself. Slowly” thankfully your voice didn’t betray you as you had thought it would. Like that of a true hardened criminal, it remained steady and threatening. You’d seen death and betrayal, from your own hands, and you were sure as hell not going to show this presence the terror you felt in your bones. As Vero always said,  _ “Fear touches everyone. But showing it? That’s the first sign of defeat”.  
  
_ Suddenly, the shadows seemed to be their own entity, reaching out, begging for you to come in, desperate for you to join them.  
  
_ "Run”  _ Your mind whispered again, urgently, fervently. You flipped your blaster from stun to lethal, making a show of it for whoever dared to terrify you so.   
  
“I won’t ask again” you warned, with all of the command you could muster.  _ How do you plan on shooting something you can’t see? _ You asked yourself, before cursing in your own mind.  
  
But it had worked. You’d roused it into movement.  
  
Footsteps among the pitch black. Their soft echo bouncing off the walls. The time between each step an eternity, as you held your breath in anticipation. The found of ther measured steps came from each corner of the shadows. You began to feel like a trapped beast in the enclosed space, your breath slow and shuddering.  
  
The shadow itself seemed to be taking form. A figure, not as towering as your wild imagination had built, but no the less imposing, began to take shape from the blackness. A hood, a long cloak not unlike your own. Measured, confident movements that appeared human. You couldn’t see a face, not beneath the reach of the cowl, not without a decent source of light.  
  
_ “What do you want _ ” you wanted to say, but instead you stared. The image of the being itself wasn’t particularly out of place, not unusual but… But it was what you  _ felt _ . How had you not sensed it fully until now? How could such wanton violence not have touched your soul from a mile away.  
  
Your blaster lowered as your eyes remained locked to the shadow being, his very presence puncturing you like so many blaster bolts and leaving you impotent.  
  
And slowly, beneath the shadow, beneath the cowl, you saw a thin strip of white just eking through the darkness. A  _ smile _ . A smile that made your spine trill, as if a cold blade had been struck across it in one swift motion.  
  
_ “RUN!” _ You obeyed your mind finally, turning to flee for your life.   
  
Your feet launched you, out of the alley, and away. Where? Through the thunderous beating of your heart in your ears you couldn’t think. Just  _ run _ .  
And as you bolted, as the figure watched you turn heel and flee, you could have sworn you’d heard its laughter in your mind. Mocking. Lascivious. Hungering for your fear.  
Its presence clung to your back like ichor, bleeding into your skin and making you feel dirty.  _ Cold _ .  
  
So you ran. You ran until your aching feet throbbed and stung, while that laughter echoed ceaselessly in your mind, like madness and wickedness had begot a hideous child.   
Further and further you fled, letting your feet decide your path once more, the thought of escape the only goal you could cling on to until finally your lungs burned hot fire and your terror became just an echo that mingled with the memory of  _ its _ laughter.   
You found yourself no closer to home, and no further from the fear that thin slither of white had instilled in you. 


	4. Chapter 4: LiMerge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone's who's left comments on my work! Honestly you've motivated me so much to continue writing this fic, and it makes me so happy!! 
> 
> I get a little caught up in worrying about whether it's good enough etc but ya know what? If I don't keep writing & posting WE WON'T GET SMUTT SO. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, despite how brief the encounter with our boo is )': but we're getting ever closer!!  
> I'm currently pondering how the next chapter is really going to go... Just struggling with the storyline a little, but I think I'm almost there!

The moment in the alley, amidst the breaking dawn of Coruscant haunted you.   
  
When you closed your eyes, a thin slither of white grinned at you in the darkness. Echoes of that laughter, of his laughter, followed you behind closed lids.   
Thankfully within 3 rotations you’d slowly begun to rationalise your ‘encounter’ as an overreaction of your troubled mind. Just another madman that lurked in the shadows, made terrifying from the battle raging within you.   
A symptom of the ever approaching darkness in your heart. The darkness you continued to fear.   
  
Sometimes that small voice in your mind told you exactly what he was. But you pushed it away, refusing to believe that he, _it_ , was the person you sought, the person Vero spoke of. It had just been a man, likely still drunk after a night of revelling with a penchant for violence.   
  
But that-... That feeling. The _cold_. It washed over you anew, like a crash of icy waves over your skin.   
  
You could rationalise all you wanted, but each night his laughter came back tickling at the edges of your thoughts with razor sharp nails. When you closed your eyes, on the precipice of sleep, you heard it. Deep and masculine. Lyrical. Terrifying even though you tried your best to deny it. It trilled in your ears like a nightmarish lullaby, singing you to sleep as you dove into the waiting madness of your hungry mind.   
  
All this musing had finally led you here, to the LiMerge building. After days of rumination in your small ground floor apartment, innaction had begun to taste bitter in your mouth. Instead of wondering, thinking, hiding in the darkness like a rat, you finally took action and decided it was time for you to make the next step in finding the key to the knowledge you sought.   
The abandoned building had massive fins supporting the circular base, showing some neglect from years of disuse. Your eyes roved up, the structure little more than an unadorned pillar with a rounded summit. Permaglass windows dotted the exterior, skylights as well. It seemed an odd place for your Force user to be hiding, yet if the building wasn’t in use it would be the perfect place to hide. You’d found some of your own abandoned spots, and used them for your own devices as well after all.   
  
Your eyes took in the strange building, feeling a cold sense of unease in your bones. Flitting images of that malevolent, white smile returned and you couldn’t help but shudder. No, this isn’t the time to be scared of ghosts. You had spent the entire journey here avoiding as many dark alleys as you could, convinced that at every turn you could see a dark cloak disappearing into the evergreen shadows of Coruscant’s underbelly. Enough was enough.   
  
You sought out a place to stake out the lower levels of the building. You knew a small alley was your best chance, where you could hunker down in your cloak like a beggar. It didn’t take you long to find one, and you sat in the midworld between light and pitch darkness, eyes trained on your target. You didn’t know what to expect, or what you were looking for, but you knew you couldn’t go rushing in. First you had to understand the surroundings of your target, look out for any vehicles, anyone who might frequent the area. Maybe you’d even catch a glimpse of the Force sensitive being.   
With all of the patience you could muster, and bravery, you hunkered down in the alley while focusing on remaining hidden. Remaining secret. You didn’t want anyone picking up on your presence before you were ready.   
  
Through the hours of the day, as you stared at the building carefully, you kept yourself in a quiet state. Part meditation, part survival instinct, you imaged yourself as the shadows around you. Urged your thoughts to bleed silently and remain locked from anyone’s prying minds. Over and over you urged yourself to be smaller, more silent, more like the shadows you feared.   
  
The day passed into evening, and you’d seen next to no movement about the building.   
  
It was the same the next day. And the one after. A whole week passed in monotony, while you took a new vantage point at each visit. You’d travel on your speeder, park up a few buildings away and make the rest of the journey on foot to watch the abandoned building. It was surprisingly exhausting, and not so surprisingly boring.   
  
You devoted the majority of your day and evenings to watching. Vero allowed you to avoid him and didn’t contact you in return. You supposed he’d expected you to disappear for some time, after delivering you with this priceless gift, and you thanked him silently for his unexpected understanding.   
But your mind did not sit on Vero, or the present. It lingered on the past more and more each day, and you felt a pull back to your days at the Temple forcefully. Slumped within your cloak, your memories from your last few months at the temple came rushing back as you finally relented to them. 

* * *

  
  
You’d been almost 16, a budding young woman already determined to escape the clutches of the Jedi. You weren’t the best or brightest of your peers, not even close, but you had been the most curious. The most defiant. At some point in your journey, you’d known you weren’t meant to be here.   
As this realisation became more clear to you, you began to realise that not only did your life belong to the Jedi, but so did your _thoughts_.   
  
Your master, your teachers, they could sense your mind, your eagerness to be free of them. Their lectures suspiciously began to change, urging you to be patient, to understand and trust them. That your life was here, and you had much to accomplish in the name of Peace across the Galaxy.   
You knew they were reading your damn thoughts, and it had angered you. Angered you so much that you’d wished you could shrink to nothing, until you were unnoticed by them. So disheartened that you wanted nothing more than to become the shadows that clung to the walls, and nothing more. You hoped your thoughts would melt away, hidden in darkest corners of your mind. You willed it each and every day, resentful of your lack of privacy.   
  
Almost instinctively, and gradually, you started to learn a talent the Jedi didn’t want you to have. One that elicited frowns and prying from your Master, as her troublesome student slowly became a blank slate she couldn’t reach.   
In time you’d even learned to keep your presence masked. You could stick to the shadows of the temple, sneaking around by night, without being detected. Imagining yourself as nothing but smoke bleeding into the darkness you’d linger until you felt invisible, until your mind felt blank and buried, and you would test your ability.   
  
Each night, when you should have been studying or sleeping, you would sneak out and push the boundaries of what you were capable of. At first you were occasionally found and scolded, sent back to your rooms to think on your actions, but eventually you became an invisible wraith. By day you kept your head down, less intent on wringing answers from those around you and more focused on blending in, pretending you had found the error of your ways.   
  
It worked. They hadn’t suspected a thing. Even your Master seemed more relieved than cautious, taking whatever respite she could from the strain you always presented her with.   
But he had noticed, hadn’t he? A young Jedi in training, about your age. Your peer. Opposite from you in every way, or so you’d thought.   
He’d had the brightest, keenest eyes you’d ever seen, and a sharp intellect that almost stung. To say you’d been a loner at the temple was almost an understatement, but he had been one of the few you hadn’t hated. He had eventually become… A temptation. 

* * *

  
You wrestled your thoughts away before you could lose yourself to the bittersweet memories. Focus, you told yourself, rubbing at your eyes with the palms of your hand. _You’re distracted, focus on the mission at hand._   
You scolded yourself, taking a deep breath and allowed your eyes to rove across the streets and buildings nearby. The sun had begun to set and the golden hue of dusk stretched across the city with its timid fingers, stroking through errant cracks and crevices, hovering just above the lower levels and denying them of its golden touch.   
It was beautiful, but a sadness touched deep within your chest. Another sigh, and you tore your eyes away and flicked them back to the LiMerge building to-   
  
It was like a shockwave through your body. The sudden realisation that something had changed.   
  
The streets, the lower levels, the alleyway all remained the same. But something had shifted higher up. Your eyes roved across the surface of the abandoned building. Saw nothing. You felt an almost familiar unease set within you. It made you want to _move_ , to leave. You stood slowly, unable to keep your legs still as you hovered in your hiding place. You felt so… _So exposed_.   
  
_There._   
  
Your eyes focused on a single, minute movement levels and levels up. A dark patch that hadn’t been there before, so small you couldn’t make it out. You hadn’t so much found it with your eyes as you had-   
  
_Cold. Ice cold._   
  
You sucked in a deep breath, knowing that whatever you were staring at was staring directly back at you.   
Is this what it felt like, to be a rat stuck in a trap? To find the eyes of your predator filling up your vision? Frozen in place, you felt helpless, even at this distance.   
  
You pressed the palms of your hands against the alley wall behind you, trying to find something solid to bring you back to reality. Your gaze never left that one flickering black spot. It couldn’t. If you looked away something… Something _bad_ would happen. Something awful. You couldn’t- Couldn’t look… Away.  
  
The more you stared, the closer it seemed to be. It was a strange illusion, sucking you in. At first it was just fabric, whipped by the wind. Then a form. Maybe something human. Ragged edges of a cloak. You felt dark. Felt cold. Felt… _Malice_.   
You’d somehow been torn from yourself, and dragged into its presence. Its familiar presence. You didn’t even notice the shivering in your knees, the tight set of your jaw, the way you shuddered in fear. Your body had fallen far behind.   
  
It wouldn’t stop. You kept being drawn closer and closer in the eye of your mind. The closer you pressed, the less you saw and the more you _felt_. It began to choke you, like ice water thrust down into your lungs and filling you with a myrthful murder that shoock your core. You gasped for breath, hands reaching desperately to your throat.   
_Nothing- Th-there._   
  
And in one sudden instant, there it was. As clear as day. Inches away from you, you could see that fine slither of a smile, edged by darkness and full of it. He didn’t laugh this time, and that seemed worse. Much worse.   
Time paused as you struggled for breath, caught in the alley yet dragged up before him levels and levels above the ground. Your disembodied self floated as if hovering in the golden sky of Coruscant’s setting sun, while your lungs drowned.   
  
The smile tilted down. Two reflects of light flitted at you from beneath the dark cowl, piercing through you. Colourless, bright lights. Then as the gradual tilt of his head stopped, red and yellow shone vividly from eyes that were more alive and full of hatred than you’d ever seen in your life.   
  
How was there so much darkness shielding him when he stood bathed in sunlight?   
  
The eyes seemed to take in your choking face with pleasure before the smile widened and parted into a single, threatening word that it relished to taste of:

 _“RUN”._   
  
Air burned back into your lungs, and your back hit the wall of the alley violently. Your legs felt too weak to move, but your survival instincts kicked in and you turned and ran. You ran before you even began to comprehend what had happened. Just as you had only nights before, you turned to escape the terror that seized you without thinking.   
Though amidst the blurred and panicked waters of your mind, one cognizant thought did stand out brightly.   
  
He was the one. The one you sought.


End file.
